I've only read the text of the article and haven't watched the videos yet but holy moly! If this is truly what Romney said, I'm astonished that he thinks 47% of voters pay no income tax, are dependent on government assistance, and dismisses them as not being worthy of consideration.

It's also mind boggling that someone who was born into privilege and wealth thinks he is a self-made millionaire, but I should not be surprised at this. Even if he did not inherit any money from his father, he had so many advantages including education and connections he probably would not have been able to get without his father's influence.

It's my general experience that most people who have class advantage do not acknowledge what a difference it can make. It's not brains and skill alone...

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

I just saw the video and I was actually offended. He thinks he's the forking king of everything and we are but peasants under him. fork you, Romney. My food stamps using asparagus will take its vote elsewhere.

The scary thing is, I think a lot of people believe the same thing. It makes me sad. I'm tired of being sad. Cheer me up, world.

well some people may think (wrongly) that those who receive government assistance don't pay taxes, but Romney saying it's 47% of voters is just insane. To me this is yet another example of how out of touch Romney is with the majority of Americans.

It will be interesting to see what kind of effect this has on independent and undecided voters, and even Republicans who may not like Romney's message.

He thinks he shouldn't worry about nearly half the population of the country he wants to lead?

He was talking about worrying about getting their vote. I don't think he should worry about getting the votes of people who are already going to vote for Obama, so in that respect, I agree. But I think what he meant by the overall message is yeah, he doesn't care about people.

The scary thing is, I think a lot of people believe the same thing. It makes me sad. I'm tired of being sad. Cheer me up, world.

well some people may think (wrongly) that those who receive government assistance don't pay taxes, but Romney saying it's 47% of voters is just insane. To me this is yet another example of how out of touch Romney is with the majority of Americans.

Well, the figure about 47% of Americans paying no federal income tax is roughly accurate, but most of those people are retired or college students or unemployed or are employed but just have income so low that they end up not having to pay income tax.

The scary thing is, I think a lot of people believe the same thing. It makes me sad. I'm tired of being sad. Cheer me up, world.

well some people may think (wrongly) that those who receive government assistance don't pay taxes, but Romney saying it's 47% of voters is just insane. To me this is yet another example of how out of touch Romney is with the majority of Americans.

Well, the figure about 47% of Americans paying no federal income tax is roughly accurate, but most of those people are retired or college students or unemployed or are employed but just have income so low that they end up not having to pay income tax.

exactly - there were several years in which my income was below the taxable threshold, but i wasn't receiving any formal government assistance (food stamps, unemployment, etc). to equate the two is just illogical.

and insulting the electorate aside, how does it even make any sense for him to say something like this? if these 47% of Americans really will all a) make the effort to vote, and b) for Obama, there's no way in hell he can afford to be acting this cocky. he absolutely does not have the 53-percenter "taxpayer" vote in the bag. what an arrogant prick.

_________________vegan cheese bigamy is not allowed. - LisaPunk

So today at PPK I learned how to fork up a falafel and a taco. - craiger_ny

The thing is that that statement is a direct reflection of the way that the right wing of the GOP feel, and a rare moment of consistency for R.Money. Remember Bachman saying that all Americans should at least pay something and that key to solving our deficit problem was collecting some money (say $100) from everyone, rather than collecting more from the 1% that control most of the wealth.

I wish I could find the Jon Stewart clip on that.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

Yes, most employers over-withhold to avoid having people stuck with a big bill come tax time, and because they just take into account the deduction for your family members/marital status not property ownership etc. Even when I made over $250,000, I used to get refunds of over-paid taxes.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

i suppose i give him credit for not trying to take it back or dress it up now that he's been called out; from what i'm hearing, all he's conceded is that the comments were "not elegantly stated." i mean, that credit is, like, 8 extra points on his douchebag score, but still.

_________________"rise from the ashes of douchebaggery like a fancy vegan phoenix" - amandabear"I'm pretty sure the moral of this story is: fork pants." - cq

i suppose i give him credit for not trying to take it back or dress it up now that he's been called out; from what i'm hearing, all he's conceded is that the comments were "not elegantly stated." i mean, that credit is, like, 8 extra points on his douchebag score, but still.

He isn't taking it back, because its in line with the right wing of the GOP, which is the group he appealed to in picking Paul Ryan. Its part of his strategy to mobilize their base. I guess the idea is that if you can convince the white, middle class swing voters that the rest of America is going to vote for Obama and he is going to take your taxes and give it to lazy layabouts on welfare, they are more likely to show up to vote even if they don't particularly like Romney.

As far as I am concerned he loses even more points for demonizing people on welfare and for carrying on the GOP tradition of being completely divorced from reality. So -eleventybillion for you R.Monee

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

Well, the figure about 47% of Americans paying no federal income tax is roughly accurate, but most of those people are retired or college students or unemployed or are employed but just have income so low that they end up not having to pay income tax.

And they tend to be paying sales tax on almost all of their income. Edit: also, they pay payroll taxes on 100% of their income.

_________________Goddamn that Rick Santorum has a pretty mouth. -sameness

We managed to get her to vote for him last election, because Sarah Palin was crazy, but she is now rabidly anti-Obama for reasons that I don't listen to because they are embedded in a screed of racist bargle.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.